Obama’s spokesman Jay Carney unexpectedly resigns

United States President Barack Obama announced Friday afternoon that he’s accepted the resignation of White House press secretary Jay Carney.

Josh Earnest, the White House special assistant to the president and principal deputy press secretary, will assume Carney’s role, Obama said during a surprise appearance from the commander-in-chief during a scheduled briefing Friday afternoon.

“His name describes his demeanor,” Obama said of the incoming press secretary. “Josh is an earnest guy and you can’t find just a nicer individual.”

Carney, the 49-year-old former Moscow bureau chief for Time Magazine, told reporters after the president’s remarks that his last three-and-a-half years as the White House press secretary has been an “amazing experience” and “so fulfilling.”

Pres. Obama’s announcement came less than three hours after he confirmed during a separate press conference that morning that he had moments earlier accepted the resignation of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki in the midst of a high-profile scandal that’s plagued the VA in recent weeks.

Carney is expected to stay press secretary through mid-June, and did not immediately disclose the reasoning behind his departure or his future plans.